Remember Me
-Chapter 1: Lend Me Your Ears-
Please lend me your ears, it's all I ask!
That's my only request! Have a grizzly good mornin', pal!
I was there. 1987. That year, that goddamn fateful year.
…probably shouldn't start the story like that.
Hello, my name is Michael J. Schmidt, but I'd prefer it if you just called me Mike. I'm the current security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. You know, that place down at the corner of Capital Road? Yep, that's the one. It's been open for about 30 years, I think (It's 2007 at the time of writing). I worked there during the eighties. Course I was just a kid back then, like…9, 10 years old, I'd say. My father, Joshua Schmidt, who is now deceased (Bless his soul), owned the place. He opened it, had big dreams to make a ton of money to provide for mom and me, plus please kids and families everywhere.
We were the first building to open, dad said he wanted to branch out someday to other cities, states, and eventually other countries. He opened the building just as I was born, back in 1977, and already the place boomed with popularity. People loved the pizza (old Schmidt family recipe), but the real attraction were the animatronic animals that played in the band. The band consisted of three crucial members; Freddy Fazbear, a large brown bear with a signature black top hat, Bonnie B. Bunny, a (male) bunny with a red bowtie and a red electric guitar, and Chica D. Chicken, a yellow chicken that wore a bib with the phrase "Let's Eat!" written on it. Bibs like that became prizes at the arcade that was attached to the building. Those things sold out fast.
My dad always took me to work with him since I was 6, but I didn't start working there 'til I was 9. It was mainly stuff like working the redemption counter in the arcade or cleaning the floors (I decided it was the best and easiest way to help; how the hell's a nine-year old supposed to cook pizza?!).
The big event, though, happened a year later, 1987.
It happened June 26th of that year, which, coincidentally, was the very same day I started working a year previous. I turned ten a month back, and once again, I was ready to work at the pizzeria with my dad. Oh! Before I get to that, I need to point out one crucial detail: they walk, the animatronics. They were set in some sort of…free-roaming mode, for some reason. They had a self-developing AI, one of the most advanced at the time. Every day I went there, Freddy would greet me with a song and put his hat atop my head. That always put a smile on my face.
Now, back to the story…
Like I said, I was ten. I just came into work before the place opened with my dad, and as he turned on the lights, I gawked in amazement as the place came to life. It was a Friday, I believe, and every Friday we would set up disco lights, lights that changed color every second or two. They weren't fast enough to give seizures, thankfully, and well I wasn't a fan of slow things, they were still pretty cool. This day was so memorable I remember every little detail, down to the grease stain in the middle of my red uniform.
Immediately, the animatronics flickered into life. Smiling, Freddy tapped his foot to a musical beat generated by him, Bonnie, and Chica, all of them looking at me. As I smiled and ran over, Freddy started singing what I called "The Grizzly Good Mornin' Song". He sang it to me, only me, each day, every day, and he always ended it with the line: "Have a grizzly good mornin', pal!". On occasion, he would refer to me by name, which I liked even better than the song at times.
I really miss those days when he sang that song.
After he sang the song, he placed his hat on my head, and we would exchange a hug. That was how I would get grease all over my clothes; sometimes kids had food fights in the building, and the animatronics got smeared in cheese, sauce, and grease, though they didn't seem to mind. We tried our best to clean them, but grease still stuck to their suits. Anyways, those were the good days.
We had a big birthday party planned for my friend, Sarah. She lived down the street and she always loved coming to the pizzeria. This was going to be a big day for her. I spent a lot of my time decorating the place with balloons and streamers, telling the band all about Sarah and what she liked and disliked when I could. They walked around and helped decorate, occasionally letting me stand on their shoulders to get a high enough reach.
One attraction I have yet to talk about is one that has been closed for some time, and it's all because of this day. It was called "The Secrets Of Pirate Cove – Starring Foxy The Pirate, The Pirate Who Bested Blackbeard". Foxy was an awesome animatronic fox…as the name suggests. He had a hook for a hand and wore an eye-patch, and his whole gig was telling stories from sailing the seas. He could be a bit…unorthodox at times, but that was only before and after hours. He was very defensive of friends, I even saw him take care of bullies at times. Heck, I met him when he saved me from a bully, but that's a story for another day. For now, let me get back to this story.
Foxy had just shouted a heart-filled "Yo-ho!" as he kicked open the doors of Pirate Cove, twirling out of the entrance and standing in the middle of the pizzeria. I clapped for him enthusiastically, almost falling off of Freddy's shoulders. He approached me and looked up with a smile.
"I see me ol' matey Mike is getting a hand from Navigator Freddy?" He said in his pirate-y accent. He didn't always talk like that, only during his stories or when he was trying to be funny. He reached up with his regular hand and gave me a high five as Freddy took me down from his shoulders. "So, I hear a friend of yours is coming in today?" I nodded furiously, replying with a slightly pitched "Yep!" Foxy took off my ball cap with his hook and ruffled my hair, placing the hat back on afterwards. "We best prepare the ship for the young lass! Quickly! Raise the tally, swab the poopdeck!" He sprinted back into Pirate Cove to get his pirate garb on as I laughed. My dad was in the office, calling up the other employees, calling the night-guard last. The night-guard was coming mainly because he also started working on this date, 5 years prior. It was his sixth year, and he wanted to enjoy a celebration as well (even though he knew it wasn't actually for him).
I wish my father never hired that night-guard. I wish to God in the high-heavens fate will change that day.
Bonnie plucked a few guitar strings, practicing for a song that the band had written for the birthday parties. "Does it sound right?" He asked me.
"I dunno. I don't play guitar." I remember saying with a cheerful voice and a smirk. "Sounds good to my ears, though!" He smiled at me. I always remembered every smile those animatronics gave me. I didn't see Chica, but I already knew where she was. She was in the kitchen, making pizza and cupcakes and a birthday cake. She was a brilliant chef, though I never knew what her secret ingredient was.
Not until now, but that's for later.
The place was officially open by 8:00 AM, and kids started showing up between 8:10 and 8:15. Sarah didn't get there until 9 AM, but I was patient. By 8:35, employees started showing up, the night-guard among them. Normally, he was happy and cheery, but today, he looked happy, but I now know the smile was fake. He looked a little fidgety, but other than that, I couldn't remember much of anything else.
Sarah showed up at 9 AM, like I said before, and the party was a blast. I got to give Sarah a tour of the place (actually, Freddy was the actual tour guide, but he let me do the talking), even. I showed her the storage room, where the costumes were. She asked me if she could try one on, and I showed her a dirty old costume of a yellow Freddy, one that hadn't been used in years. She said she was joking and I smirked and tossed the old costume aside. The party was going to last for a while, going to end at 3 PM. It was awesome to see Freddy and the band performing on stage, and even going to see Foxy over in Pirate Cove.
Then everything went wrong.
After we visited Foxy in Pirate Cove and heard one of his many tales on how he defeated Blackbeard, Sarah rushed off to the restroom. I decided I would prank her, dress up as the yellow Freddy and scare her when she came out. I rushed off to the storage room down the eastern hallway. As I approached it, I felt a sick sense of dread, telling me not to go in there.
But, being a little kid, I decided to ignore the feeling and went inside.
I almost vomited at what I saw.
There was a man with his back facing me, dressed in a Freddy Fazbear suit, holding a bloody knife in one hand, a gun in the other. It hadn't been used, cause I hadn't heard it. In front of him were five children.
All dead.
The man quickly turned, and I saw who it was. The night-guard.
Without thinking or processing what I saw, I booked it. Out the door, back to the front room. I heard a loud gunshot from the gun sound behind me. I was running out of breath from running down the long hall, and with my last burst of energy, I lunged through the doors into the party room, slamming onto the black and white tiled floor. Everyone stopped and stared as I lay on the ground, panting. The band showed concern, even Foxy stepped out of Pirate Cove. Nobody said anything as I slowly pulled myself off of the floor, regaining my composure.
Then the night-guard appeared behind me, wrapping his arm around me and holding me tight, pressing the gun to my temple.
"Nobody. Fucking. Move."
Nobody did anything, I wanted to scream and kick and cry and run to my dad. But nobody did anything. The look in my dad's eyes said he wanted to call 9-1-1, but he was nowhere near the phone. Then Foxy started growling angrily, slowly stepping forward towards the night-guard, who pointed the gun at him.
"Get back, asshole."
"Let the boy go." Foxy barred his teeth, growling loudly.
"I said get back!"
Foxy lunged, ready to bite. The gun fired, piercing his right eye, or the area where it would be. Kids screamed. Parents gasped, covering the eyes of their children. I thrashed and kicked, crying, screaming Foxy's name. The fox simply lay there, unmoving. I felt the small round, smooth barrel of the gun press hard against the side of my head again. I could hear the click of the night-guard easing his finger on to the trigger, ready to pull.
Then Foxy got up and lunged at the man in a flash.
He bit into the top of his head, tearing the skin before ripping off what I now know was his frontal lobe.
"Nobody touches my friends!"
Everything fell silent as the night-guard had small, quiet, but quick breaths. Foxy realized what he had done, but he didn't care. He knelt down to my level, pulling me into a hug, and before I knew it, I was crying. Hard. Endlessly, it felt like.
And I didn't stop. I didn't let go of Foxy, I didn't do anything. I thought I heard him whisper something in my ear, but I ignored it.
I just stood there and cried.
And that was what happened on June 26th, 1987. Freddy's closed for a while, but we reopened again. The animatronics were deemed "too dangerous" and weren't allowed to roam again, which saddened me. I was never taken back to the pizzeria, never saw the band…my friends again. Not until today, that is.
I was going to get a job there as the new night guard.
-(End Of Chapter)-
